Escape

The author uses his main character and first person narrator Daniel's return to Palm Coast in order to explore the ways in which one's desire for escape might distance him from those he loves. Almost as soon as Daniel arrives back in his "no name" hometown "in North Florida," memories from his childhood past envelop him (1). His close friend Aubrey's death has not only inspired his trip back to Florida, but left him feeling nostalgic and reflective. As he drives through Palm Coast countless times over the course of his visit, Daniel begins to reconnect with the place that he was once so desperate to escape. In "Rivers," Daniel realizes that "Although I spent much of my life on a riverbank, like Mom and Grandma, I dreamt of escaping it in high school. I wanted to run away from this town . . . I did as Mom and...